Eliphalet Nott (June 25, 1773 - January 25, 1866), famed Presbyterian minister, inventor, educational pioneer, and long-term president of Union College, Schenectady, New York.
Life
Born an orphan without resources at Ashford, Connecticut, Nott managed to earn a degree in 1795 from Rhode Island College, today's Brown University. In 1804 he became president of Union, at a mere thirty-one, a position which he held until his death sixty-two years later. During this period he was also president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1829-1845), though he was much more loyal to Union.
He found Union financially embarrassed, but succeeded in placing it on a sound footing. His legacy there is recognized by the imposing Nott Memorial, centerpiece of the College's campus.
Nott was also well known in his day as the inventor of the first stove for anthracite coal. His publications include sermons, Counsels to Young Men (1810), and Lectures on Temperance (1847). An oration condemning the practice of dueling delivered in the wake of American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton's passing, "On the Death of Hamilton" (1804), had profound influence in curtailing the custom and remains recognized to this day as period example of the eloqutor's art.[1]
Nott Road in Rexford, NY, location of his farm, is named for him.
References
Vorlage:Reflist See Life by C van Santvoord (ed. Tayler Lewis, 1876).